Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #17

Jun 17

Jun 17 Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #17

Changes Part 1

In Central Park, Peter Parker has his face to the ground to he can watch ants picking at a discarded corn on the cob. When Mary Jane asks him what he’s doing, Peter says he’s doing research, although he’s not sure what exactly it is he’s researching. Mary Jane is in a bad mood and when Peter asks her what’s wrong, she tells him to figure it out.[1] As he thinks about it, he suddenly realizes that Mary Jane is upset because of the media coverage of the Queen kissing Spider-Man. He assures Mary Jane that the kiss meant nothing to him and explains how the Queen wanted to breed with him and had an ability to mentally control him. He remembers feeling a sensation of deep disgust when she kissed him and that she put some kind of thought inside his head. He can’t remember what it is, but knows it has something to do with insects. With that, Mary Jane is no longer angry and she even makes some jokes at Peter’s expense leading to him playfully chasing her around the park.

Later, while web-slinging across the city, Spider-Man admits to himself that he lied to Mary Jane. He wasn’t exactly sure what he felt when the Queen kissed him and in the aftermath of it all, he is just confused. He knows that she has done something to him and it is itching in the back of his mind but he doesn’t know what it is. Worse, he knows that she is still out there plotting and wants to shout out to the Queen to tell her that her plan isn’t going to work, but knows that it wouldn’t be true. Meanwhile, Mary Jane has gone to get her haircut, and — omitting the details that her husband is secretly Spider-Man — tells her hairdresser about how another woman tried to kiss Peter. Although the hairdresser jokingly says she should murder Peter and bury the body, Mary Jane points out that it was the woman that kissed him and that Peter is such a bad lair to have a secret affair. Still, she figures she can squeeze two new dresses and a ten pints of ice cream out of him to pretend she is still mad at Peter. The two women have a good laugh, unaware that the Queen — also known as Ana — is sitting in another hairdresser’s chair getting her own hair done. After she is complimented for her hair, the Queen leaves with her drones and has them remind her to spare the hairdresser, since a good one is so hard to come by. She and her followers then retreat to her hideout in the New York City subway system where her drones are busy setting up her new base of operations.

Meanwhile, Captain America is addressing the brass at SHIELD and other branches of the United States intelligence community on the Queen situation. He tells them that the Queen was Ana Soria, an ex-marine, one of the first female soldiers during World War II. He then explains that the reason why her kissing Spider-Man is such a huge concern was a classified detail that was only to be made available on a need-to-know basis. When one of the men in the crowd asks how they can face this threat without knowing anything about it, Captain America tells them that he, unfortunately, cannot tell them any more under direct orders from the President. He can tell them, however, that if they do not capture both the Queen and Spider-Man in the next five or six days, they are going to have a huge crisis on their hands. When Nick Fury asks how dangerous the Queen can be when they openly warn the intelligence community whenever the Hulk attacks. However, Cap insists that the Queen is far more dangerous than 100 Hulks and national security prevents him from going into more detail than he has already divulged. Fury then tells one of his subordinates to prepare five harriers to patrol all of Manhattan in order to find Spider-Man, suspecting that this situation is bigger than Captain America is letting on.

That evening, Peter Parker is having a nightmare where he is running through a tunnel trying to get away from the Queen. However, she emerges from the shadows behind him telling him that he cannot get away from her. Her sudden appearance causes blood to pour out of all of Peter’s orifices. Peter wakes up screaming and feels awful. He tries to convince himself that he’s only suffering from the flu but knows he’s lying. Outside, his neighbor Caryn’s dog Barker is out on her balcony howling into the night. When Peter asks that dog what’s wrong it begins angrily barking at him for no apparent reason. Feeling both hungry and thirsty, Peter then navigates through his dark apartment to get to the fridge. By this moment, the Queen is sitting on her new throne and orders her subjects to come around so she can tell them her story. She tells them that it all began during World War II when she enlisted in the Women’s Auxillary Corps where she was then drafted into a special unit of the Marines. After a series of rigorous training the unit was then ordered out to the desert where they were exposed to a nuclear bomb explosion. When Ana woke up, she found herself in a prison cell. She remembers feeling very ill but the cockroaches on the floor of her cell refused to run from her. She was then visited by one of her former lovers, Steve Rogers — aka Captain America — She felt betrayed by him as he apparently loved his country more than he loved her. Her monologue is interrupted by one of her drones that has been planted within the intelligence community. She is warned that Nick Fury is mobilizing a search team that is looking for both her and Spider-Man. The Queen is unafraid, telling her drone to let them come and find her.

Later that evening, Mary Jane returns home to find one of the neighbor’s dogs scratching at her apartment door. She wonders why all the dogs in the neighborhood are acting so strangely as she lets herself into the apartment. As she enters, Peter tells her not to turn on the light because it hurts his eyes. Ignoring him and deeply concerned, Mary Jane turns on the light and is shocked to discover that Peter has grown two extra sets of eyes.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, the Queen, Mary Jane Watson, Captain America, Nick Fury, Barker

Continuity Notes

Peter figures he hasn’t forgotten his and Mary Jane’s wedding anniversary. Peter and Mary Jane got married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, the couple had been married for about five years at the time of this story. However, their marriage is later erased from existence from Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the altered timeline, one could assume that Peter is thinking of a different milestone in their relationship instead of the marriage that now never happened.

Topical References

Captain America states that Ana Soria was the first female marine dating back before most of the men in the room were born. At the time of this story, it was possible that members of the US intelligence community could have been born prior to World War II. However, since the modern age operates on a sliding timescale, modern readers should ignore “most of you” and instead assume Cap means all of them were born after World War II.